The Map Shop

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See the link at the bottom of this post. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks was published by Penguin Books in 2008. Brooks is a New York Times Bestseller and a Pulitzer Prize winner of March . This book is a historical fiction shifting between 1996 and the past, spanning from WWII and various religious inquisitions and crusades.  Trigger warnings! There are scenes of torture, murder, rape, manipulative and dysfunctional families. There is also some race and religion discrimination set within historical context. People of the Book follows Hanna Heath, a rare book conservationist, who is asked to analyze and conserve the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest Jewish texts ever illuminated. As she works, she finds evidence of the book's past, she begins to unlock the stories behind the book's creation and survival through centuries of conflict. This book is based on a true story and does an amazi...

 #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See bottom of this post for details. Doll Bones by Holly Black was published by Margaret K McElderry Books in 2013. Holly Black is known for her contemporary fantasy for kids and teens including the Spiderwick Chronicles, The Magisterium Series, and the Modern Fairie Tale series and has recently started a new series with The Cruel Prince (2018). She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor.  In my experience, Holly Black's books are very hit or miss for me. I loved the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Magisterium series is my little sister's favorite books in existence, but the rest of her work seems to just fall flat for me. I'm not sure if I just haven't found the right ones to read yet or if it's something with her style but Holly Black is an author that I'm cautious about picking up since I never kno...

  #notsponsored.  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. The Color of Heaven was written by Kim Dong Hwa and published by First Second in 2009. It was previously published in 2003. This is the beautiful conclusion to his coming-of-age manhwa trilogy, The Color of Earth. Note there is some sexual content in this volume. Compared to the first two volumes, Color of Heaven is a bit slower in story. Duksam leaves the village after burning his master's fields in revenge of the old man trying to buy Ehwa's marriage when he knew Duksam wanted to marry her. Afterwards, both Ehwa and her mother spend most of the book waiting for their men to return. There is a lot of talk about waiting and longing, and a woman's curse is "planting love in our hearts." We also see pieces of other people's relationships. Ehwa's friend, Bongsoon, is having sexual relations with one of the village boys, Dongchul, complete with euphemisms. We also see...